Laura Erickson's For the Birds

This elegant member of the thrush family, native to forested mountains of the West, appears occasionally in winter in the Midwest, invariably in fruit trees. In the West in winter, they are seen most often in junipers; in the east, they’re often seen in crabapples and mountain ash. On their breeding grounds, they’re territorial, often perched at treetop level in a vertical stance; in winter they also usually live up to their name, found singly and seldom in flocks of waxwings, robins, or Pine Grosbeaks, but occasionally two do stick together for weeks or months.